Hold Me Close
by klarolines
Summary: An AU love story between Klaus and Caroline. It features what tragedies life may bring, but also the rewards and merit's it can bring. Contains themes that some readers may find disturbing.


Prologue

_I remember the moment it all changed. It was just a normal day, like any other. I did not think anything of it at the time. I'd met a thousand people before. But none could ever have made an impact like he did. He changed my life from the moment I laid eyes on him. I knew there was something different. I did not know what it was, but I was enticed, already addicted. I think back now, through my whole life, all the events, the tragic, the painful, the elations and the sorrows, but still, after all this time. I cannot bring myself to regret meeting him. I cannot bring myself to regret this moment, as it led me to him, it lead me to love._

Three figures made their way down Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in search of an amazing night out. The clicking of heels was prominent from the three girls heading to the end of the street. Caroline, Bonnie and Elena made their way along the cobbles, as they had so many times before, to their usual hangout, Donovan's bar. They filed in through the door leaving the busy street behind them.

Caroline was close to the owners son, Matt. She had met him on their first day of college, two years ago, roughly, and they had always been close. He was the first friend she made when she moved to New Orleans, apart from Bonnie and Elena who she bought with her from Virginia. They had a close connection, something that neither of them had ever spoken about, but she felt like she could trust him with anything.

The trio navigated their way through the packed bar, making their way to their usual booth in the corner. Elena sighed in relief when she found it to be empty.

'Goodness, I thought I saw someone sitting in it when we came through the doors!' she exclaimed as she threw her purse onto the table and slide along the leather upholstery, allowing room for Bonnie and Caroline.

'If there was someone here, I would have dragged them off my seat by their hair.' Caroline puffed. The other girls chuckled slightly as Bonnie opened her purse, withdrawing her money.

'Drinks, girls?" Bonnie's voice was relaxed as she offered the question out to the whole table. Bonnie new, that in turn, the other's would buy her drinks later, she would rather go first so she could remember what money she had actually spent before getting drunk.

'I'll just have a small red wine.' Elena smiled at Bonnie, 'Thanks.' Elena was always polite and well mannered; it was the way she was brought up. Although she didn't like being in debt with other people, she had the intentions to buy the next round, so did not decline Bonnie's generous offer.

'Get me a vodka and coke.' Caroline spoke the words In one breath, followed by running her hand through her hair. Her tone was exasperated; Bonnie brushed it off with a smile, knowing the Caroline did not really mean it.

Caroline pulled out a red lipstick from her purse, puckering her lips and applying a second coat to her already perfect lips. She smacked her lips together, leaving the lipstick to dry as she awaited the arrival of her drink from Bonnie. She replaced the lipstick into her bag and rummaged through the contents of it, making sure that she had not forgotten anything. Her mood was light, although she didn't seem as cheerful as per usual. None of the other girls bothered making any comments about her attitude; it was expected after a full day of tests and examinations. She was looking for an enjoyable night with her friends and after she got a little Dutch courage into her system she would be as right as rain.

Bonnie soon returned with a tray topped with drinks. She handed them out carefully, the small red to Elena, the vodka and coke to Caroline and the white wine spritzer for herself. Bonnie disposed of the round tray on an empty nearby table before re-joining the leather couch. The atmosphere in the bar was lively but the girls stayed seated sipping their drinks, failing at small talk. The drinks were soon diminished and glasses were empty, the night still hadn't taken off for the three even though all of their moods brighten, Caroline especially had chirped up.

'I'll go get the next round of drinks.' She smiled, standing up, grabbing her bag from the side of her. She knew that they were going to have the same drinks, they always did. She headed up to the bar, and with no surprise it was Matt Donovan, son of the owner.

'Hey Matty' she chirped, her voice sounding a little more bright than it had done a few seconds ago. 'one small red and two white wine spritzers please.' She smiled as he nodded and walked away to get the drinks, she pulled out two five dollar bills and slide them across the bar to him as he handed her the drinks.

'Here you go, Caroline. I hope you have a great ol' night.' Matt smiled and nodded as he passed her the drinks on a tray.

'Great, thanks Matt, you too!' she smiled gratefully and walked back to the table, avoiding the large crowd of dancing students. She didn't want to be wearing red wine, especially on this dress. It would never come out.

One guy elbowed her, almost sending the tray flying. Caroline turned around to the guy, ready to rip into him, to make him sorry that he almost ruined one of her favourite dresses. She re-balanced the tray on her hand and turned around to face her assaulter, her brow was furrowed and insults were already brewing in her mind. When she finally faced him, she was taken a-back. She was greeted by a handsome guy, about 5'10 with mousy blonde hair. She couldn't bring herself to be stern to such a cute face. He looked a few years older than Caroline, about 24 with a medium build, she could see his toned muscles through his tight, white top.

'Oh dear, I'm so sorry.' He shifted his arms awkwardly before thrusting them into his pocket. 'I really didn't see you there, are you okay, love?' he raised his eyebrow looking intently at Caroline, checking for any blemishes.

'Oh no, I'm gr- fine, thank you. Don't worry about it's completely fine.' She smiled as he nodded and carried on with his night.

Caroline returned to the booth with cheeks crimson red, which automatically created an electric buzz in the air around the booth. 'I've just met the cutest guy, ever.' Caroline spoke, a dazed look strewn across her face. She laid the tray down on the table, before flailing and fanning her face with her hands, trying to return her cheeks to a normal colour. The girls ogled her with wide eyes.

'Who was he?' Elena questioned Caroline as she sat back down and sipped her drink. She was leaning over the table in anticipation, waiting for Caroline to answer the bombardment of questions Elena had brewing in a head.

'Gosh, you're so nosy, Elena' she taunted. 'She pointed over to a figure on the middle of the floor. 'It was him, I don't know his name, I don't even know if he's from around here, I've never seen him before' she paused and sighed, remembering the short meeting that happened not 5 minutes ago. 'All I know is that he's cute and has the sexist British accent I've ever heard'

The other girls stopped the questions as their eyes darted to the dance floor; they could not make out which character Caroline was so eloquently describing. After a couple of minutes of discussing the mystery man, the subject settled, leaving them to talk about current events in their lives. Although the topic had changed, Caroline could not remove the image of the man from her mind, she wanted to meet him again, but was he even still here? This niggled at her until she couldn't stand it anymore, she was too curious just to let this slide.

'We're hitting the dance floor, now!' he exclaimed to the other two girls, she pulled them both up by their hands and dragged them into the middle of the room. The music was loud, but the tempo was slow. It was one of Caroline's favourite songs. 'Wild Horses' by The Rolling Stones. The three of them were swaying on the floor, holding each other's forearms.

Caroline was coyly looking around the room for her mystery man when another guy bumped into her, he was heavily intoxicated, this was evident from the smell of his clothes and his breath, and by the fact that he could not stand up straight for more than 5 seconds without stumbling. Caroline politely nudged him away, which appeared to be the wrong thing to do at the time as it turned his attention to her. He smiled at her creepily. His teeth, some of them were missing, were bared, he looked like an animal about to attack. He stumbled over to Caroline as she tried to back away, but he was faster. He outstretched his hand. She shifted her eyes side to side, looking for some sort of exit, or escape route. She couldn't get out of his way. What was he going to do?

'Come 'ere pretty girly.' His gruff words were slurred from the high level of alcohol inside him. Caroline was backed up against the wall, rarely anyone noticed what was happening and she was panicking. The guy had her pinned against the wall and she starts screaming in a high, shrill pitch as he places his hands on her chest and moves them down her hips. Tears start welling in her eyes and fall onto her porcelain cheeks, she's sobbing, why is he doing this to her? What has she done wrong? His hands move to go up her dress. Caroline closes her eyes, not knowing what to expect. She's petrified.

The next thing Caroline was aware of was the sound of flesh on flesh, and the sound of someone hitting the floor. Caroline opened one eye slowly, peeping a glance of the situation. All she could see was her mystery man shaking his hand as though he was in pain, and the drunk bastard lying on the floor clutching his nose, trying to stop the crimson stream of blood flowing from it. Caroline could only assume that her mystery man had now turned into her knight in shining armour, coming to save her when she needed him the most.

The sides of her mouth dug into her cheeks, creating dimples and pushing a small smile onto her petite face, she quickly wiped away the remaining tears off her face and smiled, turning to her hero. The mystery man straightened up, holding his painful hand in his other one, and he turned to Caroline. 'Are you alright, love?' he questioned, making sure that she was okay, and not actually badly hurt. He did not notice but Caroline did straight away, this is what he had asked her earlier.

Caroline didn't know what to say, so she blurted out the first thing that came into her mind 'We should really stop meeting like this, y'know.' The guy started laughing and nodded.

'That might be a good idea.' He shrugged, and moved closer to her, so she could hear him more clearly, even after the kerfuffle the bar was still loud. 'But if we don't keep meeting like this, how am I ever going to manage to get to know your name?' he responded.

Caroline blushed, she was grateful for the darkness of the bar, as she hoped that this man, who made butterflies appear in her stomach, wouldn't be able to see her cheeks turning scarlet. 'Well, maybe we should see each other more?' she replied to his mellow accent. 'I'm Caroline, by the way.' She clasped her hands in front of herself, and started swaying slightly. Caroline could not remember the last time someone made her feel this coy. She was usually so sure of herself, but she could feel her stomach turning, she was nervous and she knew it. Maybe it was just the accent. She did love a British accent.

'I'm Niklaus Mikaelson, Klaus for short' he smiled at her sweetly, 'My parents are traditional, the name has been in my family for generations.' the small dimples outlined underneath his strong cheekbones. His face shone as he smiled. Caroline could barely look him in the eye. His presence overwhelmed her. All of a sudden she felt weak at the knee's not knowing what to say or how to respond to his words and actions. She noticed Bonnie and Elena making their way towards her and Niklaus. She smiled to him, excusing herself before making her way over to greet them.

'What happened? We just heard!' Bonnie exclaimed. She grabbed her best friend and hugged her tightly 'Are you okay, did he hurt you?' Their faces were flushed with anguish.

'I'm fine, honestly.' She stared at them both to show that she was not lying. 'The guy I met earlier, the one I told you about, he helped me. He knocked the guy to the ground.' She smiled at the two. 'Honestly, I'm fine.' She reassured her worrying friends, 'But, I think I'm going to go home now, I'll see you two tomorrow.' She hugged them both briefly. 'I'm just going to say goodnight to Niklaus.' She told them quietly, she waved haphazardly at them, making her way over to Klaus.

'Third time's lucky, right?' he smiled at her. 'I'm joking, love. It's fine' he smiled and placed his hand on the top of her arm, trying to comfort her.

'I just wanted to thank you for helping me.' Her eyes widened as he touched her, her gaze moved to his hand on her arm. He removed it quickly, not wanting to cause offense. 'Oh- Ah- Er- I didn't—' she rolled her eyes frustrated at the fact she could not formulate words around him. 'I think I'm going to go home, Goodnight Niklaus.'

'Let me walk you.' He blurted out, Caroline was not alarmed, but she was touched at this kind gesture. 'I'm not going to take no for an answer' he insisted. Caroline assumed that he must be an alright guy, he just punched a drunkard straight on the nose for her, and he barely even knew her, if he can do that, he must be trustworthy.

'If you insist… I would like that very much, thank you' she smiled coyly, trying to hide her face from him. It had been ages since someone of the opposite gender had shown her any kind of attention, she was basking in the pleasure.

They left the bar together, walking side by side down the cobbled street they had both walked to arrive at the bar. Caroline was still a bit shell-shocked from the attack of the drunk man, and she wasn't entirely sober herself, but there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be forgetting this moment in a hurry.

Her lessened reaction times and special awareness along with the cobbles knocked Caroline off balance, she fell right into Klaus, he caught her in his arms. 'Woah, watch it, love.' He laughed it off, it really did not bother him. He liked Caroline. He had never really met a girl he _liked._ He had never really had a proper girlfriend. He didn't really know how to act around girls, but Caroline was _different._ He didn't know why, or how but he knew that she was special.

After making sure that she was stable on her feet Klaus neglected to let go of her hand. He kept his clasped around Caroline's not faltering. He waited for her to pull away, but alas, she did not. She turned her head to look at him, she looked down at their conjoined hands and looked back into his eyes, pools of deep blue, she was swimming in his gaze.

Caroline loved the feel of his hand against hers, she felt as though her hand was boiling, the heat that was radiating from his body made her feel warm in the pit of her stomach. 'I live about 5 blocks away from here.' She turned to him, a coy smile rose on her blue-tinted lips.

Klaus noticed that her lips had changed shade, he ran his hand softly down her bare arm, sending chills through her body. He felt the goose bumps that were there. He could tell that she was cold. It was about 11.30pm, the air had a distinct chill to it. Klaus stopped suddenly, Caroline looked at him intently trying to figure out what was wrong. 'Are you okay?' she furrowed her brow.

'I'm good, thanks, love.' he replied as he removed his worn leather jacket from his shoulders. He took the old leather and wrapped it around Caroline's shoulders. He ran his hands up and down her arms and handful of times, trying to generate as much heat as possible. 'Is that better, love?' he questioned her.

'Much, thank you, Klaus.' She smiled and held his arm as they continued to walk. She was glowing, her stomach was full to the brim with butterflies. He was such a gentleman. Even though she had only known him for under a day, she already trusted him. She did not know anything about him, expect for his age and that he was exceptionally attractive, but she felt like she could tell him anything.

'Would you like to go get something to eat, love?' he stopped, placing his hand over the hand she had placed on his arm. 'It would be my shout, of course.' He confirmed. Although it was getting late, Klaus had not eaten, and he was not quite ready to say goodbye to Caroline just yet. He waited patiently for an answer. He was not trying to force anything; it was just a simple question. His eyes fell to her lips, plush and pink as he awaited his response.

'I-If you don't mind, thank you.' Caroline's gaze was fixed on his face, the light stubble on his cheeks, she imagined what it would feel like to feel that on her neck, on her cheek. She quickly dispelled the images from her mind, she barely even knew the guy! This did not stop her staring at his perfectly formed lips. She kept her hand on his perfectly formed arm, his bulging bicep underneath the thin material of his white tee.

'Great.' His face lit up, his lips spreading, creating a smile that spread across his face. He started walking, at a slow pace down a side road. 'The first night I arrived in New Orleans, I came down this road, all my stuff was still packed and I had no food. There was this small burger van, It sells the best burgers in the whole state. Ever since, I've been coming back. That's where I plan to take you.' Caroline listened to his story intently, mesmerized by the way his words formed. She studied each movement on his face, the creases that appeared on his forehead when his eyebrows raised, the little lip bite he does in pauses or awkward silences. She noted each of them, watching his behaviour closely. After realising that he had stopped talking, she formulated her own reply, still clutching to his arm and tight as possible without causing any attention.

'That sounds cute.' She whispered back, her voice was a little horse. Caroline did not care where she went with him, but she knew that she wanted to spend more time with him. They followed the small road until they reached the burger van that had been mentioned in his anecdote. 'You're right, this place looks really nice… dainty.' She turned to him, feeling nervous. She decided to herself that she needed to be brave, if she wanted to get what she wanted she couldn't wait for it to be served to her on a plate, she slowly removed her hand from his arm and slipped around his waist, her fingers brush the muscles in his back, the skin-tight shirt gave them the definition they deserved. She cupped her hand around his hip on the other side of his body. 'I'll just have a burger, if that's okay?' she asked politely.

'That's fine, you can have what you want, love.' He smiled down at her, he noticed the addition of her hand around his waist, but he did not shy away from this advancement, he welcomed it. It reassured him that the attraction was not completely one sided. Even though there was a minimal amount of attraction Klaus realised that they had **only** just met. He thought that he was reading too much into this.

He approached the front of the van, Caroline at his side and ordered two burgers and one portion of fries. They waited in the cold for the food to be cooked. Klaus slung his arm around Caroline's shoulders, pulling her slightly into his side, trying to warm her up a little by sharing body heat. He looked down at Caroline, he wasn't much taller, a couple of inches maybe. 'You look beautiful tonight, love. I just thought I would mention that.' He looked back up to the counter, biting his lip slightly. It was an exceptional night, and he was getting brave. He knew that he couldn't just let Caroline slip through his fingers; she was worth more than that.

Caroline could not believe what he had just said, she didn't respond well to compliments when they were off her friends, let alone a random guy that she thought was cute. 'uh- thanks' she smiled. Caroline was tempted to pinch her arm, just to reassure herself that she was not in fact a dream and she was actually awake and living in reality. The shock of what had happened that night had just hit her, now she was at a burger van with some complete stranger, but she was not scared. She wanted more. She accepted the burger of Niklaus as he passed it her. 'Thank you, ever so much. Not just for the burger, but for everything you've done for me tonight. You're a real gentleman.'

Klaus' face lit up at the kind words coming from her. 'It's no problem at all, Caroline.' He replied, taking a bite out of his burger. He followed the bite with a groan of pleasure. 'This is heavenly' he replied with the burger still in his mouth. After swallowing, he picked up two fries and pushed them into his mouth. 'Sorry- I must seem like such a pig' he laughed, Caroline retorted.

'Of course you don't. You seem hot.' Caroline could not believe the words that came out of her mouth. She wanted Dutch courage but not this much, she was trying to find a way to undo what she had just said, but her attempts were in vain. He had heard what she had said, she could tell. The small smile that crept onto his lips was a dead giveaway. She devoured her burger, not even looking at Klaus until she had finished it, she did not want to make an even bigger fool out of herself than she already had.

'Listen, Caroline. I don't want to sound desperate or whatever, but I really like you, you seem different,_ special._ I saw you at the bar and purposely nudged you, I just wanted the chance to talk to you.' He raised himself onto his tip toes and then lowered himself back down, he was nervous.

'You could have knocked red wine all over me, do you know how hard that would have been to get out of this dress? That was a dick move, mate, a dick move' she was serious. '_But_, in all fairness you did beat up that dick at the bar, so all is forgiven.' She smiled and nodded. Reclaiming both of her hands back to herself, she held them together in front of her as they began walking back down the street, heading to Caroline's apartment. 'It would be a lie if I said that I didn't find you attractive' her cheeks became warm again, filling with blood. She felt impulses rise within her, impulses that she could not control. They were strong. She placed her hands on his strong chest, a wall of strength and masculinity, she inhaled his scent. He smelled like cinnamon and fir trees. She pressed herself onto her tiptoes pushing her lips into his, they were soft pillows against hers. Caroline's heartbeat sped up. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew it felt right.

Klaus' reaction to the kiss was immediate, he did not know where it had come from, or when it was going to end, but it felt nice, the sensual feeling of Caroline's lips pressed against his. He places his hand on the nape of her neck, pulling her mouth closer to his, allowing them to slot together easier. Klaus kissed back with a small animal-like passion, running his tongue along her teeth. His free hands moved down towards her waist, he placed it in the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. They were touching all over. Their bodies so close and intimate to each other's.

Caroline was shocked by his eagerness to kiss her, '_he must've wanted it as much as I' _she thought to herself. This was true. Klaus wanted to feel her lips on his ever since he first saw her. He pressed her to the wall in the small side street. His lips left her mouth and travelled down her jawline to her neck, he kissed her soft skin tenderly, leaving small red patches as he went. Caroline looped her fingers through the belt loops in Klaus' jeans, pulling him closer to her. The intimacy lasted for several minutes until Klaus pulled away, realising the time and place, he was not wanting to give off the wrong impression to Caroline. He rubbed his lips with his thumb and forefinger, remembering the taste of Caroline's lips. 'It's getting late, we've gotta get you home.' Klaus give Caroline one of his winning smiles, taking her hand in his and entwining their fingers around each other's. They walked the 15 minute journey towards Caroline's apartment in silence. The presence of each other was enough to satisfy each of them.

'Well, this is me.' She pointed up to a block of flats. Klaus furrowed his brow trying to decide which window she was pointing to.

'Which one is it?' his head angled left slighty.

'I'm on the third floor, the eighth window across. Apartment 12b.' She replied, letting go of Klaus' arm. 'I- I just want you to know, that I've had the most amazing night, thank you.' Klaus bowed his head in acceptance of her words.

'I've had one of the best nights of my life.' He greeted her compliment with one of his own. 'Well, I guess I'll see you around?' he furrowed his brow, dismayed about leaving her.

'I guess-' Caroline's smile faded on her face. Klaus leaned in and planted a small, soft kiss on her cheek and turned away, heading back in the direction they had come from.

'Wait!- Your jacket!' Caroline quickly removed the jacket from her shoulders, it felt so natural there that she forgot it was even on. Klaus spun round as she hollered him.

'Don't worry, love. You keep it! I'll pick it up soon!' He raised one hand to wave her goodbye before merging into the darkness so Caroline couldn't see him anymore.

'Goodbye—' she whispered to herself, she knew the he could not hear her, but she said it all the same. She turned around and made her way towards the large concrete building. Caroline clambered up the cold, stone steps of the stairway, making her way to the third floor. After what seemed like forever, she was at her door. Her hand disappeared into the depths of her handbag, returning with a set of keys. She pushed the key into the lock and twisted it to the left, resulting in a clicking sound coming from the mechanism inside the door, notifying her that it was open. The door was heavy and Caroline barged it open, quickly closing it behind her and replacing the latch. She locked the door and chucked her keys into a small ceramic pink bowl on the table next to the door, her bag was discarded next to the small bowl.

Caroline kicked her shoes off as she made her way to the small kitchenette that bordered her living room. She filled her kettle with water and set it on the gas burner and waited for it to whistle. She removed one of the mugs from the cupboard overhead and filled it with two small teaspoons of sugar and one regular tea bag. Caroline did not have to wait long for the water to boil, and she quickly resumed making the tea. Once she was done, she carried the cup into her bedroom, placing it on the heart shaped coaster on her nightstand.

Caroline slipped out of her dress and pulled a silk nightgown on, throwing back the covers of her bed, she slipped gracefully under the duvet, she sat up, leaning against the headboard as she sipped her tea, thinking of the events of the last couple of hours. Her memories were vivid which brought smiles to her face, they kissed. _They kissed._ Caroline still couldn't believe what had happened.

After finishing her tea, she lay her head down on her feather pillow. She fell asleep almost immediately; she was more tired than she thought. Her dreams that night were filled with Niklaus Mikaelson, his sweet lips on hers, the tender touch of his hand on her arm. This was the first night she dreamt of Klaus, and she was assured, it would not be the last.


End file.
